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How Kim Jong Il Kidnapped a Director, Made a Cult Hit Godzilla Knockoff (2015)


The North Korean dictator wanted a blockbuster; in a weird way, he got it.

Author Paul Fischer chronicles the saga in his book, A Kim Jong-il Production: The Extraordinary True Story of a Kidnapped Filmmaker, His Star Actress, and a Young Dictator’s Rise to Power. “There were thousands dying in North Korea,” Fischer wrote via e-mail, “but at the same time here comes Kim Jong Il, and his idea of advancing the regime’'s purposes is to kidnap two South Korean filmmakers, trick some Japanese film crew members, drown them all in gifts and luxury, to play with rubber monster suits and make a Godzilla rip-off.” In the past couple of years alone, the Projection Booth Cinema in Canada, Columbia University’s Liberty in North Korea group in N.Y.C., and The Cuban bar in Bristol, United Kingdom have witnessed its magic.

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